Apple Watch Series 10 in the teardown: Still difficult to repair

The 2024 iPhone models show that Apple is able to make its ultra-slim devices easy to repair: both the 16 and 16 Plus as well as the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max have been made more accessible, and the battery can even be removed from the standard models Apply voltage. So it would actually be logical that the Apple Watch Series 10 would also bring improvements for repairers? Unfortunately that is not the case. This is shown by a fresher teardown from the repair specialist iFixIt. Apple only achieved 3 out of 10 possible “repairability” points, while the iPhones landed at 7 out of 10.

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Glue, so much glue

The main problem remains the opening of the device – including the enormous screws and clamps, which require extreme sensitivity due to their size. In order to open the case, the Apple Watch Series 10 must first be warmed up. You then open it using a spudger and separate the display from the case. This would probably be difficult for any gross motor person due to the low tolerances. Then there is a lot of screwing and tweezers to reach important parts such as the battery, the SoC or (at the very bottom) the sensor unit on the back.

The battery is fully glued and has neither pull tabs to pull it out nor the possibility of releasing it by applying voltage. According to iFixIt, the sensor unit should be essentially irreplaceable if it is broken and there is a risk of total damage. In most cases, Apple is unlikely to repair the Series 10 anyway and instead simply replace it with a replacement device if the customer has a defect. The Series 10 comes with a 327 mAh battery that is housed in a “soft pouch”. The brighter OLED display, which should also enable reading from the side, is difficult to distinguish from its predecessor when viewed under the microscope.

Assembly will be difficult

In addition to the fact that opening the Apple Watch is still very difficult, even ten years after the first model, screwing it together after repair remains the main problem: only experts can put the parts back together correctly and, above all, glue them together. And even then, due to the low tolerances, there will probably no longer be any waterproofness.

It remains to be seen whether Apple – also under pressure from the EU – will come up with improvements here – at least replacing the battery and OLED should be part of the standard repair capability. Until then, the Apple Watch unfortunately remains a (according to the manufacturer, climate-neutral) product without a “right to repair”.

(BSC)